Narratives about motorcycling on Northern California's back roads; Reflections on the history and geography of the North State; Memoirs and early recollections of youthful visits to towns and forests and mountaintops.
Also middle-of-the-road takes on current issues in politics and education. Middle of the road? Isn't that dangerous?

Friday, December 14, 2012

AN OPEN LETTER TO MY REPRESENTATIVE REGARDING FIREARMS

Friday, December 14,
2012

My Dear (fill in the representative):

The time has come to have a rational discussion about
firearms in our country.Too many
innocent people have suffered and died because you and your colleagues are simply
unwilling expend the political capital necessary to impose reasonable limits on
private gun ownership.

Make no mistake: I am not in favor of taking guns away from
the citizens of this nation.However
the Second Amendment’s “Right to Bear Arms” does not allow my neighbor to
possess and surface-to-air missile or a nuclear warhead.Neither should it allow for rapid-fire
semi-automatic weapons or thirty-round clips. Most of all, the Second Amendment should never have been
allowed to trump the general citizenry’s right to life itself, which is what
appears to have happened.

As my elected representative you are charged with protecting
my interests against all enemies foreign and domestic.You may begin by standing up to pressure
groups – including our increasingly radicalized National Rifle Association –
and put into place those firearm restrictions necessary to protect the
citizenry’s most basic right.

Twenty-seven families in Connecticut might suggest that you
are already at least a day late in this endeavor.

About Me

Maps. Some of the best stories one encounters one encounters by reading a map. A map is the framework - the outline - upon which both history and fantasy are crafted.
Just as two people can witness an event and come up with entirely different recollections - each completely true, verifiable and accurate - two people can travel the same mapped route and come up with entirely different stories. But without the map, perhaps they'd have no story to tell.
Some of the best anthologies in my library are stuffed in my map case.